Futurescape (2013) s01e02 Episode Script

Robot Revolution

[ Indistinct shouting ]
-- Captions by VITAC --
CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY
DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS
[ Beeping ]
[ Shouting continues ]
Ridiculous, right?
A robot, voting.
Well, you know, they said the
same thing about blacks in 1870
and about women
in the early 1900s.
But you wouldn't give
a programmable robot
the full rights of citizenship,
now, would you?
I mean,
they can't think like us
Man:
They're not people!
they don't feel like us
They are fundamentally different
from us
For now.
But the lines
are already blurring.
And if you doubt that,
well, ask your dad
to turn in his pacemaker
or your grandma to live
without her artificial hip.
Every day,
we're getting closer and closer
to the moment
when man and machine truly meld
and redefine
what it means to be human.
[ Shouting continues ]
[ Shouting continues ]
Go to [Bleep] you fricking
robot piece of crap!
What is wrong
with this guy?
What's he so worked up about?
Maybe he's having a bad day
or a bad life
Or maybe
he's just wired this way.
You see, we've always thought
that the essence of who we are,
what separates us
from the machines,
is some sort of divine spark.
If we remove that spark,
does it launch us
towards that fateful day
when man and machine meld?
Recent breakthroughs
have allowed scientists
to dig deeper
into the human mind,
to map out our neural wiring.
And guess what.
In the map of the mind,
there is no "X" That marks
the spot of the human soul.
Get out of here!
No soul, no vote!
Kaku: What's the big difference
between a man and a machine?
Well, machines are predictable.
They're programmed.
And when they break down,
their repairs are mechanical.
Humans are so complex
that we believe
there's something called
the mind, free will, a soul.
But what happens if, one day,
we discover the complete wiring
that illuminates
how the mind truly works?
This technology could eliminate
the last barriers
between humans
and our mechanical creations.
If you have a belief
in the soul,
and you say,
"It's this, and it's that."
"Our consciousness is this.
Our mind is this" --
you may actually find
that there isn't
supporting evidence for it.
It could be that the algorithms
or the wiring of the brain
follows a pattern
that's very simple
[ Indistinct shouting ]
and that it's not actually
that hard to make a mind.
Woods: The first step
towards building a mind,
perhaps even one that would want
the right to vote,
is drafting the blueprint
of the human brain.
This epic undertaking
has already begun
at the university of California,
Los Angeles.
Dr. Arthur toga is heading up
a groundbreaking project
that will do the unthinkable --
map the connections
between neurons
that underlay
all brain function.
The brain is wired in a way
where different regions
communicate with other regions.
We have embarked upon a project
which we call
the human connectome project,
which is to make a map
of this wiring diagram.
Woods:
Ultimately, this map will chart
roughly 100 billion neurons
in the human brain,
each one of which could be
connected to 10,000 others.
Toga hopes it will give us
a complete picture of the mind,
how it works
And why sometimes it doesn't.
The human connectome project
will be able to detect
miswirings of the brain,
perhaps identify
where epilepsy comes from,
identifying the places
where Alzheimer's disease
takes over the human brain,
comparable to using
a car's diagnostic computer.
Maybe, one day,
we'll live in a world
without prisons
or mental institutions
because all that's needed is
to tweak somebody's connectome.
Woods: A full diagram
of the brain's connectome
could also unlock
the secret of the self,
that essence
that makes us so uniquely human.
And this allows us
a processing of information
that may encompass any aspect
by the individual.
Woods: Using a new,
souped-up mri scanner,
toga tracks the movement
of water molecules
that flow
along the neural fibers.
That pathway shows us
how neurons are positioned
and how they're connected.
Dr. toga: There is the top plane
and the bottom plane.
From these,
we can compute a tract
and how it courses
through the brain.
Woods:
The connections are color-coded
to indicate the direction
in which they move.
Dr. toga:
The bluish color that you see,
these fibers may connect
either to motor systems
or sensory systems,
moving information out
to affect motor movements
or sensory information back up
from processing.
Woods:
The color coding illustrates
how any given thought
can pass through multiple parts
of the brain,
darting from neuron to neuron
to make abstract connections.
When you embark
upon such a monumental task,
to study an organ system
that's capable of performing
a Beethoven concerto
or ballet
or running the 100-meter dash,
those are feats of humanness
that just gives you
awe-inspiring willingness
to keep trying to map it.
Woods: Every one of the brain's
billions of neurons
has its own complex
wiring diagram.
Locked inside our skulls
are miles of connections
between each of those neurons.
And with every memory,
every new experience,
those connections change.
We used to think that the brain
was pretty much set
after childhood,
but now we know differently.
The brain continues to learn
and change all the time,
this quality called plasticity.
When we have new experiences,
especially if they're intense
or we repeat them a lot,
we can burn new pathways.
We can also forget old ones.
Dr. toga:
It is a tremendous opportunity
to understand our humanness,
if you will.
Developing a complete map
of the connectome
is part of that quest.
Some people say
that the connectome is us.
[ Indistinct shouting ]
Our memories, our dreams,
our hopes, our defeats --
all of that encoded
in our connectome.
One thing that's fascinating
about the connectome
is if you could really go in
and take a scan
and then have that brain
turn into software,
you could have the analog-world
version of you
and the digital-world equivalent
of you.
Woods: So, what happens
when the soul is digitized,
put on a silicone chip,
and made available for download?
Allhoff: I mean, I think
one of the big questions is,
if we could develop conscious,
intelligent robots,
would they be human?
How would that make us feel
about our humanity?
Woods: With an understanding
of the brain
as a complex
biological computer,
will we begin to engineer it
like we do machines?
Augmenting our minds
with digital parts
isn't that far off.
But what will it mean
for our species
when we become more machine
than man?
[ Electricity crackles ]
[ Razor buzzing ]
[ Ratcheting ]
[ Hiss ]
[ Heart beating ]
All right, congratulations.
You guys are all done.
[ Chuckles ]
No lollipop for that kid.
Just the ability
to learn better and faster.
All it takes is a small incision
in the skull
and a tiny device
shoved into his brain.
But what parent
would ever agree to that?
Unless, of course,
everyone else was doing it
and your kid was the slow one
in school.
I mean, think today
to what length parents will go
to give their kids an edge
in this world.
And we're not talking
about fixing some faulty wiring.
We're talking
about brain enhancement.
And why would we want that?
Our brains are remarkable.
Miraculous, even.
But they can't do everything
unless we give them
a little high-tech help.
When children see
the movie "The matrix"
and they see Neo
jacking in an electrode
and all of a sudden
becoming a kung fu master,
the first question they ask is,
"How can I get one?"
well, this does not yet exist,
but it's actually
physically possible.
Woods: The key
to transforming learning
from an organic process
to a machine-like
downloading of information
is a squiggly bit of brain
known as the hippocampus.
The hippocampus
is the gateway to memories.
Short-term memories are stored
right here
in the prefrontal cortex.
But eventually
they have to be transferred
to long-term memories,
and that's where
the hippocampus comes in.
This part of the brain
doesn't store the memories,
but it does
the appropriate conversion.
Woods: At the university
of Southern California,
bioengineer Ted berger
has already proven
that a computer chip can replace
or enhance brain function.
Right now,
what our prosthesis does
is to convert a code
that's kind of in the middle
of the hippocampus
to what would be the output
of the hippocampus.
They've been able to take mice
and access
the electrical signals
coursing through the hippocampus
and record them.
And then,
when they shot the message
back into the hippocampus,
the mouse remembered the task.
We've found that we can not only
restore long-term memories,
we can enhance the animal's
ability to remember.
You could think
about using devices like this
to greatly enhance human memory
and to shorten the cycle
for learning,
in terms of downloading
huge quantities of memory
at a single time.
[ Hiss ]
Woods: Chips that augment
our hippocampus
would very well help us
learn faster.
So, will that make them
a must-have
for competitive parents?
At that point,
it could create an arms race
in elementary school.
Woman: What is 4 times 3?
Kaku: Rumors go out that, "Well,
Jones' kid, he's been enhanced,
and our Johnny has to compete
with this enhanced kid."
the reality is that, with
these kinds of technologies,
they do not get distributed
to everyone at the same time.
Some people get it first.
Some people get it better.
Uldrich: As a society, we have
to really think long and hard
about who gets this,
if it's just the wealthy,
that there are real dangers
that they will use it
to consolidate their power
and their wealth.
Woods: A rising class
of the intellectual elite
would have an additional edge.
They could Usher in a new era
of sensory enhancement
that outstrips evolution.
We're just actually checking
if everything's spiffy here.
Woods: Miguel nicolelis
at Duke university
is developing implants
that could leave millions
of years of natural selection
in the dust.
They're called
brain-machine interfaces.
Nicolelis: In a few decades,
brain-machine interfaces
will change the way
we communicate,
the way we interact
with machines,
and the way we actually interact
with one another, for sure.
Woods: Nicolelis believes
that the external tools we use
today to extend our senses,
like radar or heat vision,
may one day be implanted
directly inside our brains.
Imagine being fitted
with the ability
to see in pitch black,
no glasses needed.
Nicolelis: Well, basically,
what we're seeing here
is an animal
that is being trained
to learn a new sensation.
Woods: This lab rat
is looking for water
by following its feel
of infrared light,
something no mammal
can naturally sense.
What we did was to have
a sensor for infrared light
in the head of the animal.
And the output of this sensor,
that is electrical currents,
goes directly to
the somatosensory cortex,
to the touch cortex.
So, after a few weeks
of training,
this animal acquired the ability
to feel the infrared light
that's present
in the environment.
Woods:
By wiring an external sensor
to an interface attached
directly to the rat's brain,
nicolelis endowed the rat
with a new, unnatural sense,
as long as he's hooked up.
It's similar to touch,
but it's not precisely
the same thing.
Woods:
This super-rat is hardwired,
but the tech exists
to go wireless --
and not just for rodents.
The goal is to restore
natural senses lost
through accidents or illness
in humans
or replace those sense
with new ones.
Nicolelis: Humans will have
implants in their brains
when it can be done, of course.
In theory, this could be
X-ray or radio waves.
It could be any physical energy
that we translate into
electrical signals to her brain.
Woods:
Night vision for cops.
Radiation sensitivity
for lab techs.
Or we could all have built-in
GPS, like homing pigeons.
But just like we're getting
dependent on GPS in our cars,
imagine how hooked we could get
on those devices
if they're built
into our bodies.
Kaku: This trend of importing
electronics into the human body
is happening now
because people demand it.
Realize that, already,
cochlear implants
are now being used by
the thousands around the world
to give the gift of hearing.
Where does it stop?
There's a constant arms race
that evolves
for cognitive supremacy,
and it doesn't just happen
within an individual society.
It would happen
across the globe.
I mean, how would
American leaders respond
to the knowledge that brains
were being enhanced in China?
Woods: Augmenting our brains
with computers
will change the definition
of the human mind.
But what happens when our minds
can control machines
through the power
of thought alone?
Will our sense of self expand
far beyond our flesh and bones?
[ Monitor beeping ]
Woods: Quite an impressive
one-man band.
He's performing surgery
without nurses,
without any assistance at all,
except, of course,
for the robotic arms
he's controlling with his mind.
Now, when we connect our minds
to these devices,
or even to
a full robot surrogate,
we'll be extending our selves
beyond the very flesh
we were born into.
Today work is under way
on technology
that will seamlessly integrate
mind and machine,
not only giving us
augmented senses,
but allowing us to control
mechanical devices
with our thoughts.
All we have to do
is concentrate
[ Electricity crackles ]
and hope the power
doesn't go out.
[ Electricity crackles ]
Kaku: From the moment
we first sharpened a stick
to make a spear,
we became dependent
on technology
as an extension of ourselves.
So, mentally controlling
a prosthetic arm,
a machine, or even a robot
with our mind,
it's not antihuman.
It's just a part
of our natural evolution.
Woods:
Scientists at brown university
used this tech to help
tetraplegic Cathy hutchinson
control a robotic arm
through thought alone.
But in his lab at Duke,
Dr. nicolelis
is pushing this technology
to an entirely new level.
Brain-machine interfaces
are basically a paradigm
that allows us to link
living brain tissue
with mechanical, electronic,
or even visual devices
and use the signals
that the brain produces
to actually control
the movements of these devices
and interpret what these devices
find in the world.
Woods: The key is developing
a two-way signal
which more closely mimics
the relationship we have
with our limbs.
Not only do they move
at our mind's command,
but they also provide our brains
with information
about the environment.
If it's successful,
there's no limit to how far
this technology can go.
We'll have the power
to move robots by pure thought.
And when that happens, we'll
be able to have surrogates.
Woods: The prototype for a full
robot replacement is this --
an exoskeleton
which can be controlled
with a brain-machine interface.
Nicolelis:
When we move forward,
the human prototype
is going to be much lighter
and is going to have
hydraulic motors.
One of our dreams in two years
is having the first kick
of the world cup
be given by a former paraplegic,
a Brazilian teenager,
that would actually walk
on the pitch and kick the ball
using an exoskeleton
controlled by some sort
of brain-derived signal.
Woods: To achieve that goal,
they've been training a monkey
to control a digital avatar
with his mind.
Once the monkey is adept
at controlling the avatar,
he can operate
a mechanical exoskeleton,
turning his thought
into mechanical action.
Well, he has to coordinate
the two avatar hands
and position them
in the center of the objects
that appear in front of them
as fast as they can.
To acquire
the electrical signals
from the brain that we need,
we have microfilaments that are,
you know, thinner than a hair,
hundreds of them that you can
implant in the brain tissue
and actually sample
the electrical signals
the brain cells produce.
Woods: Over time,
the computer begins to recognize
different signal patterns
as specific movement.
Nicolelis:
We could read the signals
and get this avatar body
to be controlled by a brain.
That avatar could also send
signals back to the brain
so that the brain
could interpret
what the avatar was touching.
Woods:
If we're going to have
mechanical extensions
of ourselves,
we're going to have to train
our minds to respond to them.
Nicolelis:
What we are discovering here
is that monkeys can do that.
So, this is basically
the training
that, eventually, we are
going to do with a patient
until we can see that the brain
is relearning
how to walk or to move.
Woods:
In the not-too-distant future,
we could have artificial limbs
or accessories
that feel like natural parts
of our bodies.
Nicolelis:
If you accept the notion
that even our sense of self
can be changed
or can be expanded
to incorporate tools,
the concept of being
becomes very adaptable, too.
The sense of self doesn't end
at the last layer of ourselves,
of our skin.
It ends at the last layer
of atoms
of the tool that we are
controlling by our brain.
Kaku: Surrogates will do jobs
with the three d's --
dull, dirty, and dangerous.
They'll go
into burning buildings,
to the bottom of the ocean,
to outer space,
and we will control them
mentally.
And one of the questions that
the law will have to face is,
is it property
or is it a person?
Woods: For better or worse,
this technology
is going to become
an integral part of our lives.
Nicolelis:
Technology is part of us.
There is an intimate
relationship between what we are
and what we can create
with our brains.
Smart:
We're starting to understand
the patterns
that make us who we are.
That pattern can actually
be replicated in technology.
We're learning
how to put them into machines.
And that, I think, makes people
more open to this idea
that I could be
intimately connected
with my technology
in the future.
Woods: Extending ourselves
to include machines
will open up worlds
of possibilities for humanity.
But what if we engineer
a machine
that thinks?
[ Indistinct shouting ]
[ Beeping ]
[ Computerized voice ]
Thank you for your vote.
Merci de vote.
Gracias por votar.
[ Sighs ]
Being human.
A lot trickier than it looks.
You know,
our brains have evolved
over hundreds of thousands
of years
into lean, mean
calculating machines.
So a device that could keep up
with the average human mind,
that's the holy grail
of neuroscience.
If we could achieve that and
make it the size of our skull,
put it in a strong,
durable robot body,
like it or not,
you're looking at a potential
replacementFor us.
If we knew
the trillions of calculations
that our brain was performing
every time we walk into a room,
recognize objects,
and pick things up,
we would be paralyzed.
As a consequence,
evolution has erased
all possible consciousness
of these calculations.
But with
artificial intelligence,
we're learning the hard way
that these tasks
are extremely difficult.
You know all the physics that's
going on in the robot, right?
Here, we are doing that
computation with neurons.
Dr. kwabena boahen
of Stanford university
is closing the gap
between man and machine
by turning what looks like
a circuit board
into a replica
of the human brain,
maybe one that could be
implanted into a body.
The brain
is the best computing machine
that we have on this planet
so far,
and so by building a brain
in silicon,
I think we can really
step forward
our ability to design
intelligent systems.
Dr. boahen:
There's two things
that are very interesting
about the brain.
One is very obvious --
that we can outthink any other
creature on the planet.
The second is that it does this
on a peanut-butter-and-jelly
sandwich.
Woods: Boahen is the lead
architect of the neurogrid,
a staggering piece of hardware
that mimics the brain's activity
neuron for neuron.
Dr. boahen:
A neurogrid can model
a million neurons in the brain
in real time.
It's like, you know,
an iPod-sized supercomputer.
Woods:
The goal is to make a chip
that will simulate
the human brain
and perhaps, one day,
become a machine that thinks.
Neurogrid's engineers
challenged themselves
to rival a supercomputer's power
using 100,000 times less energy.
Dr. boahen: You look at
the brain as a physical device.
We don't know
exactly how they are hooked up,
but it's a machine.
Woods: The key to neurogrid
is that it activates links,
or synapses, between neurons.
If they're going to replicate
a human brain,
they need to replicate
the circuitry
that makes it so efficient.
What we've done
with digital computers
is we've pushed the precision,
precision, precision, precision.
But it's not helping us solve
these kinds of problems
that humans are good at.
It's the ability to take a lot
of data that's sort of fuzzy
and make sense of it.
Woods: Living neurons generate
unique electrical signals
which are the model
for the neurogrid.
This is what we call
the blueprint of the chip.
This is actually a tiled array
of 65,000 neurons.
And if I zoom in,
you can make out
regular structures.
These regular structures
are actually neurons,
individual neurons.
Woods: When voltage is applied,
just like biological neurons,
these individual silicon neurons
fire pulses.
Here, you see,
in the middle panel,
recordings
from an actual neuron.
What you see on the top here
is the recording from neurogrid
neuron, the silicon neuron,
which is modeled to behave
like this biological neuron.
Woods:
That means the only difference
between us and a robot
that could think like us
is more neural pathways.
In other words,
it's just a matter of time.
Dr. boahen:
I like to say biology
is becoming a technology.
Eventually, we are
going to push those limits
that the brain
has already breached.
Woods:
If robots become self-aware,
we'll have to ask ourselves
what exactly separates man
from machine.
And they may ask the same thing.
When robots gain consciousness,
I think they will claim
to be human.
As kurzweil said, "You may not
believe them at first,
but they'll be
exponentially persuasive."
one of the key distinctions
between the rights
offered to humans
and the rights offered to
self-aware, intelligent machines
may be around
the right to reproduce.
Because if you have
a digital system
that can make copies of itself,
it can make any number of copies
of itself,
and all of these
would be persons.
And that really messes up the
voting rules, at the very least.
Woods: Once we're able
to engineer an artificial brain
and place it into a human body,
it may be hard to distinguish
between man and machine.
But building a robot surrogate
will require more
than re-creating our intellect.
We'll have to teach them
how to feel.
[ Indistinct shouting ]
Hello.
[ Indistinct conversation ]
Woods: This human
is not just pro-robot.
In fact,
she's part robot herself.
Like most of the humans here,
she's been modified with a chip
that allows her mind to function
faster and more efficiently.
And maybe that's why she feels
sympathy for a machine.
But what's really surprising
here
is that our citizen robot
feels likewise touched.
[ Indistinct shouting ]
Get a life.
What is a brain without emotion?
Would it be a human mind
without it?
Emotion is a cornerstone
of what it means
to be a member of our species.
And science has discovered
a surprising gateway
to human feeling.
When you look at the human brain
and you realize that a huge
chunk of our cerebral cortex
is devoted to our fingertips,
you realize
that the sense of touch
is essential
to define who we are.
Touch is so important
in human development
that people who don't touch
or hesitating to touch,
that oftentimes, they feel
not only physically disconnected
from other people,
but psychologically and socially
disconnected, as well.
So if we want to have robots
that have a social and emotional
component to them,
it's through the intimacy
and physical contact
that bring us to life.
Woods: Robots that smile,
feel relief, or shed tears --
this defies
our very definition of robot.
Yet, in the future,
that is precisely
what our humanoids will do.
And it will all start
with the sense
that most connects us
to one another --
touch.
If robots are going to interact
with humans
without injuring them,
they are going to have to have
some of the sensitivity
that human caregivers have.
Woods:
Today in Southern California,
Gerald loeb
and his company, syntouch,
are developing the tech
that could make this type
of sensitive robot a reality.
They've already built
a piece of it --
a fingerlike sensor
called biotac.
The biotac sensor
is a tactile sensor
that replaces
most of what you have
in normal biological fingertips.
What we call the bone is epoxy,
a nice, hard material
that's easily molded
around all of the electronics
which we put in the bone
for safekeeping.
A silicone skin
slides around the core
and is inflated with a fluid
to give it a squishiness very
similar to the human fingertip.
Woods:
Poke your finger,
and you can see an indent
from the pressure.
Biotac does the same thing.
Except here, the squishiness
helps translate physical contact
into analytic data
and converts it
into human terms.
Loeb: It's hard or soft
or it's rough or smooth
or it's warm or cold.
Woods:
But the real breakthrough design
is one that mimics
a unique detail
in nature's schematics
for the human finger.
The skins we initially made
were smooth on the outside,
'cause it's a whole lot easier
to make smooth skins.
And we decided to try
machining a pattern
of fingerprint-like ridges,
same dimensions as fingerprints,
into the mold
in which we made the skins
to see what would happen.
And lo and behold,
the amplitude of the vibrations
as we rubbed it over surfaces
got 20 or 30 times larger.
Woods: Turns out
sensing vibrations is key
when it comes
to defining texture.
The rougher the surface,
the greater the vibrations.
Loeb:
Could you design a robot that,
if you shook hands with it,
you couldn't tell
whether you were shaking hands
with a robot or a human?
Now maybe you're getting
at the essence of intelligence.
Nardi:
So, if we want machines
that are very creative
and intelligent,
they're ultimately going to have
the same kinds of messiness.
So, in the end, it would be
very funny to sort of think,
yes, we're creating
this glorious intelligent robot
just as smart as humans,
and it's still going to be
giving us surprises
and unpredictable behavior.
Woods: But the one thing
that biotac can't sense,
at least not yet, is pain.
Man: If you look, it's black
from just picking stuff up.
And there's, like, a burn
on there and stuff.
Pain is really
an indication of damage.
And in a biological system,
you want to prevent further
damage by protecting yourself.
Uldrich:
Pain is how we learn.
I mean, one of the very first
things we learn as children
is not to touch that fire.
Kaku: Eventually,
robots would become so advanced
that they will feel pain
and they will really understand
the fact that, yes,
humans can suffer.
You know, we sometimes ascribe
behaviors that look emotional
to animals.
You know,
if a robot is doing that,
who's to say what emotion is?
It's really in the eye
of the beholder.
Woods: But if we give robots
a sense of pain,
for their sake and ours,
are they still just machines?
Kaku:
Because it's advantageous
to have the ability to feel pain
to avoid danger.
At that point, we may begin
to say to ourselves,
maybe it's wrong. Maybe
it's wrong to make them suffer.
At that point,
we may even give them rights.
Woods:
Maybe even the right to vote.
But voting,
along with many human behaviors,
requires a complex understanding
of right and wrong.
It's what most
distinguishes humans
from all other species
on the planet.
If we're going to create robots
with intelligence and emotion,
their ultimate natural evolution
will be morality.
[ Computerized voice ]
Hello, Jake.
What would you like
to talk about today?
Well, my mother-in-law is sick,
and my wife can't make it down
to visit her.
And I've got a lot of work
going on, too, so
There's nothing I can do.
[ Beeping ]
Woods: We have robots that
can build, clean, calculate,
but are we really on the path
to robot shrinks?
To do that, they need a lot more
than logic or even empathy.
They need a deep understanding
of the quality
that most defines humanity,
our moral code of conducts
that's called ethics.
And work is already being done
to add it
to the robot repertoire.
Today when we think
of ethical robots,
we think, "Who needs that?"
but, you see, let's say a robot
is guarding the president
of the United States,
but he sees a bomb, and a child
is right next to the bomb.
Does the robot save the child
or save the president
of the United States?
Robots must have a value system.
They must understand what is
important, what is precious.
If a robot does not have that
ability, we're in deep trouble.
Woods: A husband-and-wife team
out of Springfield, Connecticut,
have already created a robot
that can make his own decisions
about what's right or wrong.
[ Computerized voice ]
Hello.
Meet nao, spelled n-a-o,
a toddler-sized robot
with tactile and visual sensors,
vocal ability,
and a full range of motion.
He can even tell a good story.
[ Laughing evilly ]
Now, it may look like
a cute toy,
but thanks to computer scientist
Michael Anderson
and his wife, philosophy
Professor Susan Anderson,
nao is also mastering ethics.
Any interaction
between a robot and a human
has an ethical dimension
to it.
When you do incorporate
an ethical dimension
to these robots,
all of a sudden,
it opens up horizons
you wouldn't see before.
You wouldn't mind
having them sit there
with your
elderly grandfather.
As humans, ethics rule
our legal and medical systems
and define our moral compass.
Science-fiction author
Isaac Asimov
famously wrote the three laws
of robotics,
rules that might one day govern
their conduct.
Nardi: The first rule
was that robots will not harm
another human being,
the second rule is that
they will obey human beings,
and the third rule
was that they're going to
protect themselves.
Woods: But the Andersons
have programmed nao
with a different philosophy,
one that allows him
first to weigh all the options
in a given situation
and then choose how to act.
This involves
being able to recognize
ethical features of ethical
dilemmas, such as harm, benefit.
All right. Try.
Woods: To demonstrate this,
they give nao a task --
get a prescription
from the doctor
and administer it to Susan
at the appropriate time.
Man: Nao, please take
this aspirin to Susan.
But he encounters a dilemma.
Time for your medication,
Susan.
No. No.
Based on what he knows
about Susan,
nao weighs the pros and the cons
of letting her forego
the medicine.
Don't look at me
like that, nao.
He does this by navigating
a series of true/false
statements like a flowchart.
Susan: How much harm
could be caused
if the patient doesn't take
the medication?
How long it would take
for these effects.
Is the patient
being unduly influenced
by others
around him or her?
He makes his decision
Okay.
I will remind you later.
then follows through
with his promise.
Time for your medication,
Susan.
You are welcome.
Thank you.
Thank you, nao.
Kaku: Imagine teachers
that never make a mistake,
police that never take bribes,
or judges and politicians
that are never swayed
by special interests.
Robots with a strong code
of ethics
could probably teach us a thing
or two about being human.
Pretty much anything that
we can imagine a human doing,
there's a very good chance that
over the course of this century,
that kind of task
could be performed by a robot.
The question then becomes, how
does that change how we live?
Woods:
You could wake up in the morning
and not have to go to work,
ever.
Would you philosophize?
Make great art?
Or devolve into a blob?
Or would you spend your days
hoping and praying
the robots don't realize
they're subservient slaves
and turn on us?
It may be
that the most important trait
we will give robots is mercy,
or perhaps they will discover it
themselves,
along with love.
If we develop
purely mechanical systems
that emulate, in every possible
way, the minds of humans,
that essentially
have every characteristic
of being individual people,
do these a.I.S,
do these machines, have souls?
One of the areas
that's fascinating
is evolving notions
of personhood.
Under the law currently,
corporations are persons,
ships are persons,
municipalities are persons.
Why not a transgenically created
creature or a cyborg?
We will have to determine,
if someone creates a part that
is incorporated into their body,
do they still own that?
Do they lease it to you?
Or does that become
an essential part of you
and you own
that piece of property?
Smart:
It's not going to be automatic,
adding consciousness
to our machines.
But when we do it,
it might be the final thing
that convinces us
that our role
is to take the Baton
that was given us
by the universe
and pass it on to our offspring,
which are not
just biological offspring now.
They're also our machines.
Woods: Long before the day
when man and machine become one,
we should ask
if we're truly passing along
the best aspects of ourselves --
the limitless nature
of our soul
The resiliency of our spirit
And the endless possibilities
of a mind
that has been set free.